Summary of the project

To achieve innovative societal implementationof fusion energy by 2050, the establishment of isotope‑separation technologiesis indispensable. This research and development project focuses on two primaryobjectives: (1) developing high‑efficiency technologies for removing HTOmolecules—generated when tritium permeates from the reactor blanket into theprimary cooling water under high‑flow‑rate conditions; and (2) establishingtechnologies for separating heavy water from freshwater, as well as extracting ⁶Li(the raw material for tritium production) from ⁶Li/⁷Limixtures, thereby enabling domestic production and stable supply of fusionfuels (deuterium and tritium).
The foundation of this effort lies in thedevelopment of adsorbents and ion‑exchange materials capable of sensitivelyrecognizing minute quantum effects that arise between isotopic molecules andions—an endeavor that advances the frontiers of adsorption science and isotopescience. Through this approach, the project aims to develop an innovativeisotope‑separation system by 2034.
Furthermore,the project is expected not only to accelerate progress along the mainlinetokamak‑reactor pathway and explore alternative fusion concepts, but also tocontribute to broader societal applications such as the use of deuterium inhigh‑value‑added materials and the realization of resource‑circulation systemsfor lithium‑ion batteries.

Milestone by year 2034

This research and developmentcomponent aims to create high-performance separation materials forwater-isotope separation based on a materials-informatics framework.Specifically, the computational search space will be systematically expanded,while ensuring homogeneity and representativeness in feature-space sampling toenable reliable identification of candidate separation materials, followed bysynthesis and development.
Furthermore,bench‑scale systems will be developed for (1) tritium‑water separation, (2) heavy‑waterseparation, and (3) ⁶Li separation. By evaluating separationperformance, stability, and operating conditions, the project will demonstratethe innovativeness of each system. Building on these results, technicalguidelines for system scale‑up and societal implementation will be established,paving the way toward future deployment of full‑scale systems.

Milestone by year 2029

• Development will be carried out forthree isotope‑separation systems: (1) tritium‑water separation, (2) heavy‑waterseparation, and (3) ⁶Li separation. As a first step,materials‑informatics methods will be used to predict high‑performanceseparation materials from both known and unexplored materials spaces forwater‑isotope separation.
• Candidate materials identified throughcomputational screening within the known‑materials space will then besynthesized. Using these materials, the innovativeness of a tritium‑waterseparation system based on water‑distillation techniques will be demonstratedwith laboratory‑scale apparatus, and the fundamental data for bench‑plantdesign will be obtained.
• Laboratory‑scaledevelopment and demonstration will also be conducted for the heavy‑waterseparation system and the ⁶Li separation system. Based on theseoutcomes, design guidelines for bench‑scale plants of innovativeisotope‑separation systems will be established, contributing to the realizationof fusion‑energy fuel cycles.